The New York Times–bestselling author of Unto Us a Son Is Given continues “one of the most exquisite and subtle detective series ever” (The Washington Post). When a dying hospice patient gasps that her husband was murdered over “bad money,” Commissario Brunetti softly promises he and his colleague, Claudia Griffoni, will look into what initially appears to be a private family tragedy. They … initially appears to be a private family tragedy. They discover that the man had worked in the field, collecting samples of contamination for a company that measures the cleanliness of Venice’s water supply, and that he had recently died in a mysterious motorcycle accident. Piecing together the tangled threads, Brunetti comes to realize the perilous meaning in the woman’s accusation and the threat it reveals to the health of the entire region. But justice in this case proves to be ambiguous, as Brunetti is reminded it can be when he reads Aeschylus’s classic play The Eumenides.
Praise for Donna Leon’s Commissario Brunetti Mysteries
“[Leon] has never become perfunctory, never failed to give us vivid portraits of people and of Venice, never lost her fine, disillusioned indignation.” —Ursula K. LeGuin, author of Dancing at the Edge of the World
“You become so wrapped up in these compelling characters. . . . Each one is better than the last.” —Louise Erdrich, winner of the National Book Award for Fiction
“Leon’s Venetian mysteries never disappoint, calling up the romantic sights and sounds of La Serenissima even as they acquaint us with the practical matters that concern the city’s residents.” —The New York Times Book Review
“The sophisticated but still moral Brunetti, with his love of food and his loving family, proves a worthy custodian of timeless values and verities.” —The Wall Street Journal
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law-enforcement, murder-investigation, Venice, eco-awareness, international-crime-and-mystery, family
Comissario Brunetti is more introspective than some, and that is what drives him to investigate an apparent fatal vehicle accident at the request of a young woman as she lay dying in hospice. Brunetti works in Venice where the traffic is as crazy as any big city with busses, police transport, multinational tourists, and pickpockets despite being at sea level and depending upon the canals. It’s summer and the heat is abominable between the thermometer and the sunshine reflecting off the water, but the dress code must be maintained. I’m purposely not recapping the story and trying to avoid spoilers, but I sat up too late reading it, so that should tell a thing or two. The story is as convoluted and timely as reading Euronews or any major newspaper and, like the news, leaves some personal issues unfinished (just like the only other one I had the chance to read). Excellent!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press via NetGalley. Thank you!
I love Donna Leon’s Commissario Brunetti series set in Venice, Italy. The characters drive my interest and the mystery portion is always intriguing. Hugely enjoyable reads.
Love the Donna Leon series. It’s like a mystery that includes a glimpse into life in Venice.
Venice is the setting for an interesting story that is hard to put down!
All Donna Leon Brunetti books are great!
Latest Donna Leon Commisario Brunetti mystery. Great atmosphere and same wonderful characters. I have read all of her Brunetti books, and this one is also brilliant.
Typical Donna Leon – great!!
Shame on me but it was about 10 years ago that financial misery stopped me from keeping up my collection of ‘Brunetti novels’ as I called them. This was a more than a pleasant reunion. He’s older and his children are almost grown up now but they still live at home. Signorina Elettra, one of my favourite characters is also still on her post as vice-questore Patta’s secretary. And is there some romance lurking in the shadows for her? Patta’s petty politics interfere once again with the proper police work. This time he wants 2 underage Roma pickpocket girls (who had the audacity to target the mayor’s wife) of the streets for the time he’s buying an apartment and until a planned positive article is placed in the press. Eventually, an elegant but funny solution is found for the problem.
What I particularly like in Leon’s books are all the quaint details about Venice’s city-life and local habits as well as some of the specific problems of a tourist industry that’s for a large part dependent on the Chinese. How a police siren on the boats frightens them and most of them can’t swim, so they make only use of them in dire need. Or how the import of all the necessities to cater to the millions of tourists and the tourist taxi’s themselves, cause traffic jams on the canals. What I find missing in this book are the mouthwatering descriptions of all the nice food that’s usually consumed in the Brunetti household.
The main case investigated in this book is about a woman who on her deathbed in a hospice, wants to speak to the police. She tells Brunetti and Griffoni that her husband got ‘bad’ money from somewhere and that ‘they’ murdered him. A promise made to the dying woman weighs heavy on Brunetti. The first thing they discover is that the husband died 2 weeks earlier in a motorcycle accident and that she herself was recently moved to the hospice from an expensive private hospital, presumably because she could no longer afford to pay their fees.
Apart from the usual political shenanigans and corruption, there are three main topics in this feature: water, summer heat and crowds.
I thank Netgalley and Atlantic Monthly Press for this ARC, all opinions in this review are my own.
Trace Elements by Donna Leon is the thirtieth book in the Guido Brunetti mystery series. This is essentially a police procedural that takes place in Italy. This is the first in the series for me so I am automatically at a disadvantage but I had tremendous difficulty engaging with the characters or the mystery. Maybe it is my lack of history or may be something else, but based on this experience I will not be reading another in this series.
I received a free ARC of Trace Elements from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed herein are solely my own. #netgalley #traceelements
What a ride – so far there are 29 books in the wonderful Guido Brunetti series by Donna Leon. I have read every single one of them starting the first book the day it was published back in 1992. While there are some I loved, some I liked a bit less, there hasn’t been one that I didn’t come away with the feeling of time well spent with Guido and his beloved Venice. He was born and raised in Venice and loves her passionately. Venice is more than the setting for the series, she is a living, breathing character and, as the series has progressed we have seen her become just as much a victim of human beings as the murder victim that presents a case for Guido.
In this entry there are both kinds of victim – the husband of the dying woman, a chemist who was killed in a motorcycle accident and the manmade harm to Venice and to our planet at large. Guido takes it all on while dealing with the extreme heat. The tourists are like locusts, clogging every calle and plaza making daily life for the residents horrible. Between the heat, the tourists and the normal walking needed to travel Venice, the pace is very slow. It is mirrored in the puzzles Guido and his partner, Griffoni deal with. Having spent time in Venice in the Summer, this was very familiar.
I won’t say any more about the mystery for fear of spoilers. I will say that it can be read as a stand alone. Donna Leon has a way with words with so many I wanted to highlight many times per chapter. I will also stress that the pace is slow, as it needs to be. Find a comfy spot and settle down for a visit with Guido, his friends and family and the magnificent city that is Venice. It is reading time well spent.